Suspected Algerian Islamic Rebels Kill 11

Suspected Islamic rebels have killed 11 people and wounded 10 in Algeria's worst violence since a new parliament was elected two weeks ago.

Algerian officials and Algeria's official news agency say assailants armed with machine guns attacked a bus late Tuesday in Medea, about 75 kilometers south of the capital, Algiers.

The reports say the bus was stopped on its shuttle between a working class neighborhood and the main station in central Medea when it was attacked. The assailants, believed to be Islamic rebels, fled the scene shortly before a government force sealed off the area.

It was the most deadly attack against civilians since Algeria's May 30 parliamentary election. Hours before voting began, suspected rebels killed 25 people.

Elements of the Armed Islamic Group are said to operate in the area. The group wants Algeria to become an Islamic state and has rejected attempts at reconciliation by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

The Algerian government says more than 650 people have been killed since the beginning of the year. As many as 150,000 people have lost their lives in Algeria since 1992. That is when an Islamic insurgency began after government authorities cancelled a parliamentary election that Islamists were poised to win.